


Immature

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-04
Updated: 2005-12-11
Packaged: 2019-01-19 05:32:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12404214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter are seven years old, plump, cute, and innocent. Life for them is all about cake, ice cream, friendship bracelets, and premature vows of love.





	1. Introductions for the Little

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

  
**Immature**

**Introductions for the Little**   


The raven-haired, bespectacled, seven-year-old boy walks stealthily up to a girl with shiny red hair. The Girl, with her back facing the boy, is sitting down comfortably on the grass, reading a book. The boy takes a quick glance at some nearby bushes, as if looking for reassurance, before he reaches out and combs his fingers shakily through The Girl’s red hair. She gasps and looks up instantly, frowning.

“What are you doing?”� she hisses. Her forehead creases and her tiny little nose sticks up.

The boy coughs discreetly. “Touching your hair,”� he squeaks. There is a quiet snigger that rings from somewhere in the bushes. The Girl doesn’t hear. Either that or she simply doesn’t care.

“Why?”� she asks.

“It’s red. I like red.”�

She raises an eyebrow at him, looking surprisingly intimidating for a seven-year-old. The boy flinches. “You’re an odd sort, you and your friends,”� The Girl says. She stands up and strides toward the bushes with an air of admirable cool. She reaches behind the bushes with blind aim but still manages to catch something.

“Ow!”� shrieks the thing behind the bushes. “Unhand my ear, filthy female!”� A different boy shoots up from the bushes, a disgruntled, indignant look on his face. He scowls at her and sweeps his black hair away from his seemingly eternally sweaty forehead.

The Girl releases the reddening ear. “I know the other two are there, too. There’s no use hiding, really.”�

The heads of two other boys pop up from under the disheveled leaves, one looking shameful, the other slightly jumpy. The former, quite scrawny with sandy brown hair and a kind, soothing look to him, turns to her and says, “I told them not to. I’m sorry for bothering you.”�

“Remus, don’t be such a pansy.”� The black-haired, sweaty boy with the striking grey eyes and no glasses turns back to the girl. “We’re not sorry for anything, _Lily_.”� He hisses out her name with disgust, making it seem as though it is poisonous, lethal, and has cooties. 

The first boy–the one with darker, messier hair and bad eyesight–walks over to join them. “Hi,”� he greets as though they had only just seen each other, “I’m James. This is Sirius, Remus, and Peter. How did you know there were four of us?”�

“I saw yesterday.”� She looks them over. “I’m Lily, but you know that already. How?”�

“We heard yesterday.”�

“Oh.”�

“We just came to welcome you to the neighborhood. I told them to just give their names and shake your hand, but Sirius here decided to dare James instead,”� says the one called Remus. “James doesn’t like to turn down any dares.”�

Lily studies him. “Do you all live there?”� She points at the big house across from hers.

“No,”� says Peter. “That’s James’s house.”�

“But we’re always around here anyway,”� explains the savage named Sirius, slumping down on the grass as he does so. “So we’re as good as your neighbors, too.”�

Peter looks at Lily closer. “Hey look, James. Green eyes.”�

James looks closer, too, to see if Peter is speaking the truth. He is. James smiles as the others crowd around Lily, leaning in to see for themselves. “I like your eyes,”� James grins.

Lily stares blankly at all of them. “Thank you.”�

“Hey, Lily, d’you think we’re batty?”�

Lily turns to look at Sirius. “Yes, quite.”�

Sirius whoops. “See, Remus? I told you we’re crazy.”�

James rolls his eyes. “ _You’re_ crazy, Sirius. _We_ just _seem_ crazy because we’re always around you.”�

“Besides,”� Peter says, “Mrs. Potter said that being crazy isn’t anything to be excited about.”�

Sirius jumps up from where he is sprawled out on the slightly parched grass. He walks over to stand beside Lily, but makes sure that he is far enough from her to keep their arms–or any of their limbs–from touching. “They’re so mean to me, Lil,”� he sniffs. “Lads, I’d hate to do this, but I’m changing al… allia… er… friends.”�

Remus smiles. “Alliances.”�

“Nobody said that you were allowed to talk, _Remy_.”�

It’s then that Mrs. Potter decides to call them all in for cookies, smiling and graciously inviting along their “charming, new friend.”� James thinks that his mother has very good timing. If she hadn’t called, Remus would have hit Sirius with a big-word scolding, and Sirius’ ego would’ve been wounded for the best part of the day. That is never good. He usually refuses to play any games with them, skulks in the kitchen, and keeps all the ice cream to himself. 

James has more than once requested that Remus stop reading any more books. He figures that if Remus stopped, he wouldn’t learn any more hard words, and they’d be able to have as much ice cream as they want. There’s really no way they could lose. 

“Coming, mum! Hey,”� James says, turning to look at Lily, “you want to go? Mum makes _bloody_ good cookies.”�

Sirius grins cheekily just as Remus’ face contorts into a disapproving pout. “Your dad told you to stop saying that. It’s a bad word, James.”�

“Are you gonna tell on me, Remus?”� James asks, suddenly looking shifty.

Remus thinks for a moment before he lets out a resigned sigh. “No.”�

“You’re a good friend.”� James turns back to Lily, a toothy grin plastered unfalteringly on his face. “So, you coming with?”�

Lily peers curiously at him and his friends, seemingly in deep thought. “Sure,”� she says finally. 

“Great,”� says James.

“Perfect,”� says Remus.

“Brill,”� says Peter.

“Right on,”� says Sirius, who is peering curiously at the bottom of his foot. He twists his nose in disgust. “Gross.”�

****

/chapter one

 

Review?


	2. Love for the Little

****

Immature 2  
Love for the Little  


“Lily! Lily!”�

The sound of someone bolting down a set of stairs can be heard from across the closed door. James turns to glare at Sirius. “You didn’t have to shout. You knock.”�

“So? You never care about being polite.”�

“Mum gets mad at me, Sirius. I think she watches me even when I’m not in the house.”� James turns around in a full circle, taking in his surroundings with terrified suspicion. He leans toward Sirius and puts his mouth in front of his friend’s left ear. “I think she’s here,”� he whispers.

“You’re an idiot,”� Sirius declares with confidence. “Of course she’s not here. She was making tea when we left the house. She has magic, James. She probably charmed a fly and sent it to follow you. Remember that fly that kept bugging you when we were in the garden?”�

James’ eyes widen. “Oh, Merlin. Sirius, you’re right. I kept trying to hit it but it wouldn’t leave me alone. It _was_ sent by mum.”�

Sirius looks smug and is about to say something, but is interrupted by someone yelling inside.

_“What are you doing? Get away from me!”�_

_“I left them right here, Pet! Where did you put them?”�_

_“Lily, I’m trying to paint flowers on my toe nails! Will you please go outside and play with your weird little friends?”�_

_“Oh! Here they are!”�_

The door opens and Sirius and James are face-to-face with a beaming Lily. “Hi.”� She closes the door behind her, but not before the two boys catch sight of a thin, blonde girl bent on the sofa, clutching her foot.

“Who’s that?”� Sirius asks as they start walking to the big, white house right across from Lily’s.

“My sister, Petunia. She’s eleven now, so my mum let her buy nail polish yesterday. When I’m eleven, I’m going to buy nail polish, too. I’m still deciding on the color though.”� 

James and Sirius glance quickly at each other. Choosing not to respond or ask questions is probably the best way to go. It wouldn’t do for them to look suspicious or even weirder than they do now. Nail polish is probably a customary gift for Muggle children who are about to leave for Hogwarts–well, the Muggle version of it. Nail polish is probably equivalent to a wand, or an owl. They might never know.

“I made something for you,”� Lily says. “Are Remus and Peter around? Because I made some for them, too.”�

“Yeah, they’re waiting for us inside.”� James opens the door to his house and they step in. Mr. and Mrs. Potter are perched comfortably in the sitting room, drinking tea and listening to Celestina Warbeck’s newest music disc.

Mr. Potter waves to them while Mrs. Potter smiles warmly and says, “Hello, boys. Good afternoon, Lily dear. Remus and Peter are out in the garden.”�

Once they step outside again, Remus and Peter look up from the chess board and grin.

“I’ve made friendship bracelets for all of you,”� Lily says excitedly as she pulls out four strips of complexly knotted threads from the pocket of her green overalls. “Petunia said that boys don’t wear these, but don’t worry, I didn’t use pink thread or anything. I made them match the color of your eyes. Mum said it was a sweet idea. I made a green one for myself, see?”� She hands one each to the boys, and teaches them how to tie the bracelets around their wrists. All four boys learn fairly quickly.

“Wow,”� Remus whispers, staring at the blue bracelet around his wrist. “This is incredible.”�

Peter nods in agreement, staring at the bracelet in awe. “Does it change color? My mum has a ring that changes color when she gets angry or when she’s happy.”�

Remus pinches Peter as the other boys glare at him. He always forgets that they’ve let a Muggle inside The Circle. She definitely wouldn’t know about _those_ kinds of jewelry.

“I’d never be able to make anything like this,”� says Sirius, taking attention away from Peter. “Too many loops, you know, but really, really cool.”�

James smiles fondly at his own golden-brown accessory. “It must have taken years of training. Dad says that he had to study for three years to become a real auro–I… I mean… heal–no, no… erm...”� James realizes too late that he does not know anything about Muggle jobs.

“Doctor,”� Remus says quickly. “Took him three years… a–and… another seven. Took him ten years. My mum said that sometimes being a doctor takes even longer than ten years. I wouldn’t want to be a doctor.”� 

James smiles gratefully at Remus. “Yeah… I bet you had to study for, I dunno, _five_ years to make these.”�

“Actually,”� Lily says, “just under an hour.”�

Peter’s mouth gapes wide open. “Woooo — oooo — ooow.”� 

Sirius stares at his friend and thinks that he looks strangely like James’ old pet goldfish in his last few minutes of life. He and James had taken the fish out of his bowl to try and teach him how to walk. Old Goldie started gasping and opening his mouth rapidly. Sirius remembers that it was so scary that they just left and ran to James’ room. Goldie’s funeral was held the next day.

James covers Peter’s mouth with his hand. “Don’t do that, Pete. It reminds me of… well… a dead friend.”�

Remus looks up. “You mean Goldie? But you and Sirius killed him on purpose.”�

“No, we didn’t!”� Sirius shrieks. “Mr. and Mrs. P. should’ve told us that fish _have_ to stay in water _all_ the time.”�

Remus shrugs, and goes back to his chess match with Peter. Peter notices this and occupies his attention with it, too.

“I’m going to go ask your mum for some cake and ice cream,”� Sirius tells James. “It’s so hot out here. We should go swim in the lake later. It’s what people do in the summer.”� He runs inside. 

James and Lily are left. They climb up the beech tree in James’ backyard and sit on its lowest branch. “Thank you for the gift,”� James whispers. “My mum usually says ‘I love you’ to my dad when he gives her something, so I guess I should say that I love you.”�

Lily grins happily at him. “Thank you, James. I love you, too.”� 

“Hey, Lily?”�

“James?”�

“I guess it’s a little early for me to be doing this–I think you have to be at least twelve or something, but anyway–Well, we’ve been friends for two months now, and we get along great, so… Lily, I would like for you to marry me.”�

Lily looks at James curiously, then smiles, showing an immaculately clean set of teeth. She laughs with delight, her two braids wiggling behind her. James thinks that she is about to turn down his offer. He wonders why she would do something like that. People get married all the time. He mentally chastises himself. He should have waited until they were twelve. 

“James,”� Lily says softly, “of course I’ll marry you.”�

James beams and gives her a quick hug. “Let’s shake on it,”� he says.

“Okay.”� 

James and Lily shake hands and laugh. They give each other’s hand a squeeze and don’t let go until Sirius comes walking back out with a tray full of ice cream.

**/chapter 2**

**A/N: There. Two down, three to go. :)**


	3. Warmth for the Little

  
**Immature 3  
Warmth for the Little**   


James glances quietly at his parents over his shoulder. They are sitting cozily in front of the fireplace while he and their house-elf are left to decorate the six-foot tall Christmas tree. He imagines himself perched on his very own broomstick, flying to the very peak of the tree and placing a glittering, golden star on it. He smiles and looks over at his parents again. His mum kisses his dad on the cheek and they both smile warmly at each other. James thinks. If he is about to marry Lily, then he might as well kiss her soon before she loses interest in him. It is what people do, he thinks. He wonders why he has never kissed Sirius, Remus, or Peter before. He thinks that maybe he should. But then he’d never really seen his father kissing any of his Ministry friends. James goes back to putting garlands on the tree and decides that he will. Kiss _Lily_ , that is.

\- - -

The doorbell rings and James jumps up, frantically running a hand through his hair. “Mum!”� he yells, running to the door. “Sirius, and Remus, and…”� James sighs. “… _everybody’s_ here! We’re going out to play in the snow!”�

Mrs. Potter materializes in front of him, holding a ladle dripping with soup. A few drops trickle down onto her favorite carpet. James keeps this in mind for the next time _he_ makes a mess on the carpet.

“Oh, great,”� James says. “You’re making my favorite soup. Lily’s going to love it.”� 

“Where are your gloves? James, all you’re wearing is a thick jumper. You’ll be soaked. Go upstairs and get dressed for snow, not a strong gust of wind.”�

“Wha–mum! They’re waiting for me–I–agh–fine!”� James makes a face and starts up the stairs. He hears his mother yelling things at him.

“Not just your gloves! Wear another jumper, and that new jacket your father got you! Don’t forget your muffler–the blue one–and your wellies! I can’t believe you were planning on going out there in your trainers, James!”�

“Bloody winter clothes,”� James murmurs as he gets dressed _properly_. He does this the fastest way he can and looks at the mirror. He thinks that he looks much like a sack of potatoes–all bursting and bumpy. He wonders how he’s going to win a snowball fight against Sirius if he can’t move. He hurries down the stairs and goes out the door, yelling “Bye, Mum!”� She would have been mad if he’d just gone without saying goodbye.

“Took you long enough!”� Sirius tells James loudly.

James is happy to see that they all look like sacks of potatoes. His dad once told him that mothers think alike; he was right. “Mum held me up.”�

“Well? Are we going then?”�

James nods and they all head toward the neighborhood park. He and Lily catch each other’s eyes and smile. He thinks that Lily is the perfect girl for him to marry. She is nice and lets him wipe off the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. He wonders how they are going to go about marrying each other. Would they have to make a cut in the palms of their hands and hold them together to join their blood? Sirius might have told him that, he doesn’t quite remember. He doesn’t particularly like that idea, though. Maybe they’ll just cross their pinkies. Yeah, he thinks, that should work. 

They arrive at the park and see that every piece of ground is covered entirely in thick snow. James revels in the glory of it. Snow, he thinks, is much better than sand, and infinitely better than dried leaves that have to be cleaned up. 

Peter picks up a handful of snow and drops it in his mouth. His mouth bends into a blissful grin. Sirius laughs and eats a handful of snow himself. “Very nice,”� he says.

“I don’t think you should be doing that,”� Lily says.

“It’s not clean,”� Remus says.

“If you two are going to act like our parents,”� Sirius says snottily, “then you might as well just go home, drink coffee, and read newspapers with them.”�

Lily looks at James, waiting for him to do something. James is torn, but makes a quick, instinctive decision. He shrugs and follows Sirius and Peter’s example. Lily rolls her eyes and reluctantly does the same. Sirius is giving some to Remus, who grudgingly takes it.

“Eating snow is a hobby Pete took up when he was three,”� James explains to Lily a few minutes later. They are poking around beyond the tall bushes, looking for twigs that would work well as snowman arms. “He’s been doing it ever since. He got me and Sirius into it. Remus’ hobby is reading, not so much eating snow.”�

“I like to read, too,”� Lily tells him.

“Erm… yeah. I… I like reading too.”� 

James reckons that he should kiss Lily now, before she realizes that she would be better off marrying Remus. They certainly have more things in common. For instance, they both agree that caramel on popcorn is the best way to go; James thinks that it is either butter or nothing at all. Remus and Lily are too nice and polite to laugh if something embarrassing happens to somebody; James would probably laugh _and_ point. He’d probably even tell Sirius so that they can laugh and point together. 

James is determined to marry Lily, and if he has to kiss her _now_ in order to marry her, then he would do it. “Lily,”� he says, “we should kiss.”�

Lily, who is in front of him, turns around, her eyes wide. “You mean… kiss… like… the way grown-ups do?”�

James nods and points to his cheek. Right here, he thinks. Lily thinks about it for a moment, and then nods. “Well,”� she says, “we’re going to marry each other anyway.”� Smiling, she walks over to him, and stands on the tip of her toes. James is a tall boy. She wipes some snow off of James cheek and kisses it. James thinks that her lips are very warm, just like his mum’s when she kisses him good night. Lily giggles and rubs her own cheeks, making them even redder. James watches her and blushes. He has never kissed anyone before. He figures that if he is bad at kissing, Lily will understand–he knows that she will be a good wife, and good wives understand things like that. His mum understands when his dad comes home late from work. James takes a deep breath, leans down, and kisses Lily’s right cheek. He pulls back and they look at each other.

“You are a good kisser,”� Lily says. James beams.

“So are you.”�

They grab the twigs that they had dropped. They hold hands and emerge from the bushes with wide, toothy smiles.

\- - -

James and Sirius are on James’s bed. James is staring at the miniature broomsticks hanging from his ceiling, and Sirius is reading the latest copy of _The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle_. James has already read the issue three times, and is of the opinion that _Herbert Hack: Life of a Squib_ should be as imaginative as _Martin_ if they want to sell any more copies. _Herbert_ , as he, Sirius, Remus, and Peter have noticed, has gotten increasingly dull over the past four months.

However, James could not be bothered by comic books at the moment. He is trying to decide whether or not to tell Sirius about the kiss and about getting married before twelve-years-old. He tells Sirius everything, he thinks, and might as well tell him about this. 

“Sirius…”� James says. Sirius peers at him over the comic book but does not say anything. He is waiting for James to continue. “Me and Lily are going to marry each other.”� 

“You are? Well, that’s good. Lily would make a good…”�

“Wife,”� James supplies.

“Yeah… wife… but don’t you think that you should wait until you’re twelve?”� Sirius asks James seriously. This is one of the most important decisions in James’s life. His best cousin, Andromeda, told him that getting married is a big _leap_. Sirius thinks that marrying is perfect for his friend. James, after all, has one of the highest jumps Sirius has ever seen.

“I know!”� James exclaims. “That’s what I thought, too, but I couldn’t wait. We were sitting alone on that tree, and I just had to ask her. Anyway, she said yes, so I guess it’s fine, right?”�

“Yeah, I guess so.”� Sirius smiles. “Congratulations! What are you going to use to draw blood from your palms? I could nick a couple of bread knives at home, if you want.”�

“About that…”� James says reluctantly, “I was thinking that we could just… you know… pinkie swear. I don’t think Lily’s going to like the idea of blood and all that. Plus, mum is going to be _livid_.”�

“I suppose,”� Sirius says. He accepts James’s decision, but thinks that the blood thing would have been more exciting. Then again, muggles like Lily might not understand that that is how things are done in the wizarding world.

“Oh, and there’s another thing that I have to tell you,”� James remembers. “We kissed today, down at the park.”�

Sirius gasps in shock. “Who kissed who? Did she kiss you, or did you kiss her?”�

James frowns, wondering why Sirius is reacting this way. “Erm… both. She kissed me first, and then I kissed her. Why?”�

“Merlin’s beard, James! I think you’ve just made a very big mistake! Very big! Huge! Like a giant!”�

“WHAT?! Why?”�

“I’m not sure yet!”� Sirius shoves _Martin_ out of the way and grabs his extra jumper and winter coat from the back of James’s desk chair. He wraps his wet muffler around his neck and pushes his feet into his wellies with much struggle. “Bloody boots,”� he whispers to himself. He runs out of the room, down the stairs, and into the living room. He grabs some floo powder and looks up at the stairs, where James is running after him. “I’m going to be doing some research in our library. I’ll stay up the whole night if I have to. I’ll see you tomorrow!”� He throws the powder into the fireplace and steps into the green flames. “12 Grimmauld Place, the library!”�

James wheezes and stares at the empty fireplace. _What is going on?!_

 

****

/chapter 3

**Thank you for the reviews! :D**


	4. Panic for the Little

**Immature 4  
Panic for the Little**

Sirius leaps out of the library hearth in great haste and strips off all the wet items of clothing sticking uncomfortably to him. He is left wearing nothing but his snitch underwear. He thinks for a while of staying in this state of uncover, but is terrified of what might be if ever his mother saw his as such. “Kreacher!”� he yells. “Fetch me my jammies! The red one that mother hates! And light a fire when you get here! I’m in the library!”�

Kreacher tumbles in a few minutes later to find his young master only partially visible behind a rather large stack of dusty, old books. The young, newly instated house-elf of the Black manor approaches and places the nightclothes in front of Sirius. Sirius looks up from a particularly thick book and grabs them immediately. “Light the fire,”� Sirius demands as he puts on his favorite pajamas. “Leave when you’re done.”� 

Sirius plops back down on a chair and leans over another book. He turns the pages, not exactly sure where to look or _what_ to look for. “Bloody… ugh… dark magic… nothing useful… unforgiv–no… bugger!”� He shuffles through book after book, not really finding anything. His hands and eyes get tired after a while. He might as well rest a bit and put his head down on the hard table, onto which, incidentally, Regulus is trying to climb and–

“Waaaaaaaahhh!”� 

Sirius opens his eyes with a start. His brother is on his back on the floor, crying. Regulus, unfortunately, is a bit of a crybaby. Sirius runs to him and picks him up. “Oh, Merlin, aren’t you heavy… Kreacher!”� Sirius looks about to collapse under the weight of his almost-four-year-old little brother. Truly, his spine is bent at a rather awkward angle as Regulus wriggles in his thin arms. “Stop crying, little Lus, you don’t want to disturb father.”� Sirius, without knowing it himself, is surprisingly soothing. Regulus quiets down. “He’s probably having an evil little meeting with his evil little friends. You remember Mr. Nott? Oh, we hate him, don’t we, Lus-Lus? Yes, we do.”� 

Regulus sniffs and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “We do,”� he says tearfully. 

“Don’t worry. When you’re a little bit older, I’ll take you with me to visit the Potters. Over there, Regulus-lus, grown-ups give you candy because they think you deserve it, not to shut you up. And when they smile at you, their teeth show because they smile really wide… because they mean it, you know. They let you play with _anyone_ you want. Me and James and Remus and Peter are friends with a _muggle_ from across the street, you know. It’s wonderful. I’ll introduce you to her. She and James are getting married soon–oh! Bugger!”� 

Sirius now remembers exactly what he is doing in the library at–he squints up at the creepy-looking grandfather clock given to them by his equally creepy-looking uncle–eleven o’clock in the evening. Kreacher appears in the doorway and sees the two boys. “Kreacher will take the young master,”� he grumbles and does so. “Night-night,”� Regulus mouths at him over Kreacher’s crooked little shoulder. Sirius waves to his brother as he is carried away and out of the library.

\- - -

James has been up since five o’clock in the morning. The rising sun is casting a nice, golden glow over the snow outside the living room window of the Potter household. This can only mean that it is now around seven-thirty. Winter, James reckons, slows the sun down. Either that, or the sun thinks that this is its chance to slack off a bit. James does not know why the sun would think that.

But then, James Potter does not know a lot of things. For one thing, he has absolutely no idea why his best friend had run off last night in a sudden fit after he was told of James’s first kiss. It is the reason, of course, behind James’s waking up so early. He is now sitting in front of the fireplace, patiently waiting. He does not, however, have to wait any longer. 

“I’ve been waiting for over two hours, Sirius. Tell me.”� James knows that he has never been this anxious in his life. 

Sirius brushes off a considerable amount of ash from his hair and face. “Erm… you’d better sit down, James.”�

James does not like this. Not at all. Sitting down is _never_ good. Sitting down is what grown-ups do when something bad has happened. 

Sirius sits beside him. They look at each other for a long moment before James decides that he cannot take it anymore. “Sirius!”� he yells in a whisper. Generally, James is not allowed to yell inside the house. He imagines that he is even _less_ allowed to yell inside the house when everyone else is still sleeping. “Tell me now! Now!”�

Sirius does not know how to go about divulging such an important matter to his best friend, so he goes about it the best way that he can. Sirius is quite known for his pure, raw bluntness. “Lily is pregnant.”� 

James stares at Sirius, dumbstruck. He sputters and tries to talk as Sirius moves to the kitchen. James follows him. “You… you mean… like… a baby? But… I… how… Lily’s tummy is going to explode? That’s what happens… right? Oh. Merlin and Agrippa… What… what am I going to do? Wait… I don’t… what does it mean? Sirius, I don’t understand! Bugger!”�

Sirius wishes that this had never happened. They are too young. What are James and Lily going to do with a baby? Sirius thinks that the best thing to do would be to donate it. Museums and the like usually take donations. He is sure that they would gladly accept.

He hands James a rather large slab of chocolate. “Remus told me that he eats chocolate when he’s upset. It makes him feel better. Eat that.”�

James nods and does as he is told. Meanwhile, Sirius explains. “Yes, James, Lily is going to have a baby.”�

“How?”�

“I don’t know. Didn’t you say something about her stomach exploding?”�

“Yeah… but…”� James swallows, “just by kissing?”�

“Yes,”� Sirius tells him matter-of-factly. “How do you think your mum got pregnant? And mine? And everyone else’s mum? What else could they do other than kiss?”�

James realizes with horror that Lily _is_ pregnant. He wonders if she knows yet. Oh, he is in so much trouble, and he doesn’t even understand why.

\- - -

Remus stands stiffly in front of James and Lily. “Er…”� he says.

Beside him, Peter hands over a brown book. Remus looks at the cover. _Quidditch in a Nutshell_. He wonders how that is going to help before he looks up. “Right. Lift your pinkies, please. Entwine them. Good. You are now married.”�

Sirius claps. Peter also claps. Remus does not know what he is supposed to do, but he knows that he does not wish to clap. “So… Lily’s pregnant?”� he asks for what he could only assume to be the bajillionth time that day. 

“Yes,”� James says. “That’s why we had to get married today. Now we have to leave.”�

“You mean like… elope?”� Lily asks. 

“Yes,”� James tells her, even though he does not exactly know what ‘elope’ means. 

Lily looks worried. “I don’t think we should. I… I’m confused.”�

“I don’t think Lily’s pregnant,”� Remus says to no one in particular.

Sirius glares at Remus. “I researched all night!”� he snaps. He is, however, not telling the truth. He gave up an hour before midnight. He is, however, sure that Lily is pregnant, and so it makes no difference. Remus shakes his head, still not sated. 

“Why do you have to… elope… James?”� Peter asks. “Couldn’t you just tell your mum and dad? They’ll understand. Anyway, you’re donating the baby, so it’s okay.”�

James thinks about this. He looks at Lily tenderly and hugs her. “Let’s tell them, Lily.”�

“Okay, James. I’d like that.”�

\- - -

Mr. and Mrs. Potter are sitting around the dining room table with James.

Across the street, Mr. and Mrs. Evans are sitting on Lily’s bed, where she is sobbing quietly into her pillow.

Lily and James are terrified. What has happened between them is even worse than that time when Lily had talked back to her uncle, or when James had almost burned the whole kitchen with his father’s wand. They are probably going to be grounded for life, and are never going to see each other again. James thinks that he is about to cry. He would hate it if he never saw his wife ever again. He decides that if that is the case, then he will hand Lily over to Remus. They can read books together and eat caramel popcorn. James swears that he is not going to be bitter about it. He deserves that for getting Lily pregnant.

Lily and James look up in bewilderment after a few seconds have passed. They are both wondering, at such a critical time like this, exactly what it is their parents find to be incredibly funny. 

James knows that his parents have gone mad when he hears his mother snort. _I am so upset_ , he thinks, before he brings his hands to his face and cries.

**/chapter 4**


	5. Forever for the Little

**Immature 5  
Forever for the Little**

James Potter is running full speed to the blue house sitting across from his own. He does not look both ways before hurtling down the street. He knows that his mother is watching him from behind. He is _sure_ that when he gets back home, she is going to scold him for foolishly endangering himself. _Never cross the street without checking_ , she always says. But James finds that he does not care about that too much. _Run_ , he tells himself. _Run_.

Just as he arrives at the garden and nearly steps on a rose, the door of the blue house opens and Lily Evans is standing on the doorway. Her cheeks are streaked with tears, but she is smiling. James halts right in front of her and, without warning, launches at her with a hug. For a moment, it seems as though he is attacking her, but he isn’t really. He is only expressing happiness at its highest level. 

“Lily,”� he breathes into her ear, “you’re not pregnant!”�

A bark of laughter reaches James’ ears. Without letting go of Lily, he looks up and sees Mr. and Mrs. Evans standing just across the doorway. He turns red, embarrassed. He pulls back from the embrace and faces Lily, who is wiping her tears with the back of her hands. “Did you tell them that… you know… that we’re married?”� he whispers, so that no one else would hear.

Lily sniffs. “No,”� she whispers back. “Should I?”�

“No. Not yet. We’ll wait until we’re twelve.”�

“Okay,”� Lily nods. James smiles at her and steps back a bit, so as to give her breathing space. 

Mr. and Mrs. Potter have now crossed the street and are smiling at Lily’s parents. They go inside for some tea (James has always thought that if he ever drinks tea as much as grown-ups do, he will either _a_ : gain super-adult-powers, _b_ : become boring and do nothing but read newspapers and fix dinner and go to work and scold his friends for being rowdy, or _c_ : blow up like a balloon and eventually explode, not leaking blood, but tea.) and bustle around the kitchen while Lily and James sit in the living room, staring at each other. 

“So that’s that, then,’ Lily says.

“Yeah.”�

“I was really scared.”�

“Yeah, me too.”�

They stare at each other some more. James fidgets in his chair while Lily plays subconsciously with her braids. James is not often speechless. In fact, it might take a blow to the head or a high fall from a broom to get him to shut up. This time, however, he has absolutely no idea what he is supposed to say. He is only sure of one thing, and it’s that he is currently feeling very uncomfortable. He thinks that this is not a good sign for their marriage. Husbands and wives, he reckons, should always be comfortable with each other. 

“Stupid Sirius,”� James says all of a sudden. “He started all this. He said he was _sure_ you were pregnant… said he researched all night.”�

“Remus said he didn’t believe I was pregnant.”�

“Yeah… yeah. I should’ve known Remus would be right. I don’t even know why I believed Sirius. That was pretty stupid of me, but I just… didn’t know.”� He smiles sheepishly at Lily. “Sorry for making so much trouble.”�

Lily smiles kindly back at him. “It’s okay. My parents said it was the funniest and silliest thing they’ve ever heard.”�

James grins and moves to the couch to sit beside Lily. “So… erm… it’s okay to kiss now, right? Since we know you’re not going to get pregnant or anything.”�

“Yeah, I suppose. But… don’t you think we should put that off until we’re twelve? I mean… well… I’m still a bit nervous about kissing and all.”�

“Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I am, too. Yeah… we’ll wait until we’re twelve.”� James offers a forced smile to Lily, who giggles and gives him a hug. James hugs her back, all the while thinking that Sirius is going to have to pay for what he’s done.

\- - -

“She’s not pregnant!”�

“What? What d’you mean?”�

“I mean _she’s not pregnant_!”�

“Oh.”�

“You said you did research.”�

“I did do research, but I didn’t say that it was a good research. I also didn’t say if I actually found what I was looking for.”�

James scowls and, with lightning-quick reflexes, uncrosses his arms and pinches Sirius. 

“OW!”� says Sirius, rubbing furiously at his arm. “You believed me! You shouldn’t have believed me.”�

“How was I supposed to know?”�

“Don’t be stupid, James. You ask Remus. That’s what we do, yeah? We ask Remus to know stuff. Remus, know, Remus, know. It’s simple, really.”�

“Shut up!”� James yells and looks over his shoulder at the fireplace, which, coincidentally, blazes green and delivers a coughing Remus Lupin onto James’s living room. 

“Bugger,”� says Remus. “I got ash on your mum’s carpet.”� He leans down and tries to blow the ash back into the fireplace. It is no use. Remus knows this, of course, but still spends about two minutes blowing. 

Remus stands up straight. “I’ll apologize later.”� With that, he walks over to the couch to sit beside James. “Where’s Peter?”�

“Should be here soon. I fired him a few minutes ago,”� James replies. 

Remus thinks for a second. James _fired_ Peter. He resists the urge to giggle. It is only a little bit funny, and he doesn’t think that it really deserves a giggle. He composes himself and nods. “Right. So… why are we here then?”�

“Lily’s not pregnant after all.”�

“I knew it! I told you. You see! I told you!”�

Sirius glares at Remus. “All you said was that you didn’t think she was. Fat lot of help that did. How do you expect us to believe you if you’ve no explanation?”�

“Why, Sirius?”� asks Remus. “Did _you_ give an explanation?”�

“He didn’t,”� James says. “It was stupid to believe him.”�

“No matter!”� Sirius howls. “Just forget about it! Lily’s not pregnant, that’s the end of that.”�

“But they’re still married.”� Peter suddenly says, stepping out of the fireplace. He has managed to get more ash on the carpet. “Good job on not getting her pregnant, James.”�

“Yeah. Thanks.”�

Sirius snorts. “Yeah… sure, Pete… like it took big skills not to get Lily pregnant. He doesn’t even have any clue about the whole thing!”�

“Okay…”� Remus butts in before James can reply. His mother always tells him that he was born a pacifier. Even as a baby, he was a pacifier. He bawled every time his parents were having a fight, effectively ending it. They’d stash whatever they were fighting about somewhere in the back of their heads and leave it until it comes up again. Of course, when his mother told him that, it contradicted her “getting things settled early on before things get worse”� ethic. But no matter… Remus was born a pacifier and that is that. Although, he cannot, for the life of him, imagine why he would be called a pacifier. Remus is sure he is a normal boy. Babies don’t just go up to him and suck on his thumb or his elbow or something. And he’s never felt an odd connection with his old pacifiers from when he was a baby. He is also very rarely covered in saliva. Remus thinks nothing of it. “That doesn’t really matter anymore,”� he continues. “We’re past all that. Lily is not pregnant. Thank you, God, for that. Now let’s move on. What else have we got?”�

“Well, that’s it,”� James answers. 

“Aside from the fact that you’ve married somebody waaay before you’ve turned twelve. That could be against the law, James.”�

“Nobody wants to hear what you have to say, Sirius.”�

“Whatever.”�

“Guys…”� Peter starts. “If Lily’s not pregnant from the kiss, then how _does_ a girl pregnant?”�

They all stare at each other for a while. How _do_ you get a girl pregnant? 

“Maybe if you kiss her on the lips,”� Remus suggests.

“I’ve seen my mum and dad kiss with their lips, but my mum’s never been pregnant after I was born.”�

“Hmm. Yeah… that’s true,”� Remus agrees. 

“You have to be in bed,”� Sirius says. “You have to be in bed and you have to kiss for a very long time. I think it also helps if you haven’t got any clothes on.”�

They all laugh, including Sirius. 

“Ew.”�

“Gross, Sirius.”�

“Why would anyone want to be naked with somebody else?”�

Peter lets out a series of snorts and quiets down. “Maybe we’ll find out when we’re twelve.”�

  
\- - -

Three days after the whole pregnancy thing, James and Lily are sitting in Mrs. Evans’s garden, staring up at the stars. It is late and James is about to go home.

“Sirius told me that there’s a star named after him.”�

Lily turns her head to look at James. “Doesn’t he mean that he’s named _after the star_?”�

“No,”� James shakes his head. “The star is named _after him_.”�

“Oh. Okay. Wow. I wish a star was named after me.”�

“Well, we can pick one and name it Lily.”�

“We could, but how are we going to remember which one it is? There are so many stars.”�

“We don’t have to know which one it is. Just pick the best one. Even if we don’t find it again, we’ll know it’s there.”�

Lily grins and points at a bright star sitting just beside another one. “Lily,”� she says. “And look, it’s right beside James.”� 

James laughs. “Lily and James. It sounds good.”�

“Yes. Whenever anyone is looking for Lily, all they’d have to do is find James, and whenever anyone is looking for James, all they have to do is find Lily, because they’re always together.”�

James smiles happily at Lily. “You’re a good wife, Lily. You’re better than all the ice cream in the world.”�

“And you’re the best husband, James.”� Lily inches closer to James and kisses him on the cheek for a long time. 

James hugs her tightly afterwards. “That was the best, Lily. We should do it again sometime.”�

Lily nods enthusiastically. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”�

“Yeah. Tomorrow and everyday for the rest of our lives.”�

  
-

**The End**

**(or The Beginning)**   


A/N: Yay! Yup, it was a short little flick. Hope you had as much fun as I did. :) 


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